Combination drydocking facility and shop



June 27, 1967 A. BURNETT COMBINATION DRYDOCKING FACILITY AND SHOP 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 29, 1965 June 27, 1967 A. L. BURNETTCOMBINATION DRYDOCKING FACILITY AND SHOP 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept.29, 1965 lith z| INVENTOR.

ARDEN L. BUR/VE TT June 27, 1967 A. L. BURNETT COMBINATION DRYDOCKINGFACILITY AND SHOP 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 29, 1965 1N VENTOR.

ARDEN L. BURNETT United States Patent O 3,327,670 COMBINATION DRYDCKINGFACILITY AND SHP Arden Louis Burnett, 619 Nicholson St., Falls Church,Va. 22044 Filed Sept. 29, 1965, Ser. No. 491,468 11 Claims. (Cl. 114-47)The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or forthe Government of the United States of America for .governmentalpurposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This in-vention relates to drydocks and more particularly to drydockshaving improved end closure or caisson means and improved work and shopareas.

It is one important object to provide an improved drydock which isparticularly suitable for carrying out the method of drydockingdisclosed in U.S. Patents Nos. 3,133,420 and 3,133,518 whereby ships ofdeeper draft than could be drydocked in a conventional manner may beconveniently drydocked through the expedient of superooding the drydockbasin to permit placement of bilge and keel blocks.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an improved drydockbasin closure means or caisson which can be moved between its open andits closed positions solely by adjusting the buoyancy thereof, therelbyavoiding the prior requirement of tugs, cranes, or other special haulingapparatus for maneuvering a caisson between its open and closedpositions.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved drydockbasin having a closure means or caisson of the foregoing character whichis adapted t 'be sealed alternatively against internal and externalwater pressures, is pifvoted in a novel manner near its lower edge, andis provided with ballasting tanks whereby the caisson may be floatedvertically from its grooved seat and then ballasted to swing outwardlyand downwardly in the manner of a door to permit entry of a ship, andthen the tanks may be selectively pumped and flooded to cause thecaisson to swing about its pivots to a vertical position and then tosink into its grooved seat.

Yet another object of this invention is the provision of a drydockhaving improved sealing means for assuring the attainment of awatertight condition of the caisson or door, particularly when the dooris positioned to hold water out of the basin.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of an improveddrydock wherein the basin is defined by side walls at least one of whichseparates the basin from one or more shops, service rooms, or the likeon the same floor level as the basin and having a doorway thereto, andwatertight door means for closing the doorwa whereby the basin can beliooded without flooding the room or rooms.

As another object this invention aims to provide vacuurn means forperfecting the seal around the caisson and the seal of the watertightdoor means between the basin and adjacent rooms.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this inventionwill be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood byreference to the following detailed description when considered inconnection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a floating drydock embodying the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the drydock of FIG. 1 takensubstantially along line 2 2 thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a portion of thedrydock taken substantially along line 3 3 of FIG. 1;

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FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view illustraing a portion ofthe drydock on an enlarged scale;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are views similar to FIG. 4, but with parts in differentoperative positions; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional View taken substantially along line 7-7of FIG. l.

The invention will be described hereinafter with reference to embodimentin a iloating drydock generally indicated at 1?, however, it will beunderstood that this is only by way of example and that the inventionmay be embodied in graving docks as well. The drydock 10 comprises ahollow bottom wall 11, a.hollow side wall 12, a xed end wall 13, aselectively positionable caisson 14 opposite the end wall 13, andopposite the side wall 1?., a side wall structure 15 in which aredefined a plurality of rooms 16, 17, 1S and 19 described more fullyhereinafter. In lieu of wall 13 another caisson 14 may be provided. Thewalls and caisson define a ship accommodating basin 20 which may beflooded and pumped dry in accor-dance with the method of drydockingdescribed in the aforementioned Fatents Nos. 3,133,420 and 3,133,518 inorder to achieve drydocking of a ship 21 indicated in broken lines. Thedrydock 1t? may be of steel and/or reinforce-d concrete construction inaccordance with well known practice. Of course, it will `be understoodthat the hollow bottom and side Walls 11 and 12 may be suitablycompartmented to permit control of flooding thereof as necessary tolowering and raising of the drydock during drydocking operations.

The caisson 14, which is movable to an open position indicated in brokenlines in FIG. 1 to permit entry and exit of a ship to or from the basin,is adapted to be seated in a channel shaped caisson seat 25 formed inthe side walls 12, 15 and bottom wall 11 and having spaced, caissonengaging surfaces 25a and 25b. As is best viewed in FIGS. 3-6, thecaisson 14 is provided near its lower edge with a pair of recesses 27 ineach of which is positioned a transverse hinge pin 28. The hinge pins 28extend through inverted T-shaped openings 29 in laterally spaced gudgeonmembers 30 extending horizontally into the recesses from the drydockdoor. The gudgeon members 30 are conveniently formed of I beams with theopenings 29 formed in the web portions thereof. The hinge pins 28cooperate with the yopenings 29 in the gudgeon members 30 to permithorizontal movement of the caisson into engagement alternatively witheither of the opposed seat FIG. 4. The openings 29 further permitlimited vertical faces 25a, 25b as is shown respectively in FIG. 5 andmovement of the caisson 14 to the position illustrated in full lines inFIG. 6 sufficient to release it from the contines of the seat 25 and topermit it to swing outwardly and downwardly about the axis of the pins28 in the manner Vof a door to the substantially horizontal positionillustrated in broken lines in FIG. 6 to permit entry or exit of a ship.

The caisson 14, which is hollow, has its interior divided into separatewater and air tight chambers such as indicated at 31, 32 and 33, whichchambers are controllably and selectively flooded and/or blown to adjustthe buoyancy of the caisson, whereby the vertical and swinging movementsthereof may be effected without the use of cranes, tugs or the like.Such controlled ooding and blowing may be carried out through the agencyof suitable valves and piping by which water and air may be selectivelyadmitted to or vented from ythe chambers. Thus, the chambers 31, 32, 33may be served by a first set of pipes 35, 36 and 37 controlled by valves3S, 39, 40, the rst set of pipes terminating in the uppermost portionsof their respective chambers. A lsecond set of pipes 41, 42, and 43controlled by valves 44, 45, and 46, serve the charnbers 31, 32, and 33,respectively, and terminate in the bottoms of the chambers.

The valves 38, 39, 4l) may be used to vent air from the chambers whenbeing flooded as `by water pumped through flexible hoses (not shown) tothe valves 44, 45 and 46. Alternatively, the valves 38, 39, 40 may besupplied with compressed air `from a suitable source through fieXiblehoses to blow water from the chambers through pipes 41, 42 and 43 andout of valves 44, 45, and 46.

The caisson 14, being designed to be seated in seat 25 to seal watereither in or out of the basin 11, is provided (see FIGS. 3 and 4) on itsouter surface with a resilient sealing Strip 48 and on its inwardlydirected surface with spaced resilient sealing strips 49. The former isengageable with the surface 25a to hold water in when the -ba-sin isflooded while the latter are engageable with the surface 25b to holdwater out when the basin is dry. The strips 49 define one or moreenclosed areas for purpose which will presently be made apparent.

In order to assist in seating the caisson 14 against the surface 25a,there are provided hydraulic rams 56 which are fixed with respect to theseat 25 and operable against pads 50a on the caisson to force itoutwardly to bring the sealing strip 48 thereof tightly against thesurface 25a. Similarly, there are provided hydraulic rams 51 which areoperable against pads 51a on the caisson to bring the spaced strips 49into tight engagement with the surface 25b.

The surface 25b is provided with a groove 52 which lies between theportions of that surface which are enclosed by the spaced sealing strips49. The groove is connected by suitable conduits or passageways 53 to amanifold `54 which is connected to a suitable vacuum pump (not shown).The sealing strips, when in engagement with the surface 2513 define withthe groove 52 a closed Zone in which a vacuum may be drawn by thel justmentioned vacuum pump to assist in producing a tight `seal of thecaisson in its seat. By observing the ability of the sealing strips tomaintain a vacuum, as with a vacuum gauge (not shown) connected tomanifold 54, the quality of the seal may be readily determined.

As a safety feature, the drydock comprises a trough 56 just inboard ofthe seat 25, which trough is below the upper surface of floor level 11aof the drydock bottom wall 11. Defined in the bottom wall and belowtrough 56 is a sump or safety tank 57 which communicates with the troughthrough drain ports 59 having suitable trash grids therein. The safetytank 57 is adapted to be pumped dry by a suitable water pump and servesto collect any seepage past the -caisson 14 when sealed against surface25h.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2, and 7, the side wall structure 15 of thedrydock 10 in which rooms 16-19 are defined comprises an upperhorizontal wall 65 which forms the ceiling of rooms 16, 18. The uppersurface of wall 65 may -be used to support a suitable crane, mooringline handling equipment, Work shops, and the like which are normallyassociated with drydocks.

Between the rooms 16, 17 at one end of the drydock and the rooms 18, 19lat the other end, the wall structure 15 is recessed to form a Coveredbay 67 into which `movable keel and bilge blocks 68 may be moved whennecessary in bringing a ship into or out of the basin 20. The blocks 68and their use may be as described in my aforementioned U.S. patents.

The room 17 is accessible from the level of wall 65 through a verticaltrunk 70, while room 19 is accessible from that level through a trunk71. Access to the room 17 from the level of the upper surface 11a of thedrydock bottom wall 11 may be had through doorways which are normallyopen when the basin is in a dry condition, but may be closed by a seriesof watertight doors 73, 74 and 75 which are illustrated in a closedcondition. Similarly, the room 19 may normally be entered from the iioorlevel represented by surface 11a of the drydock basin through doorways77 and 78 which are illustrated 4 in FIG. 7 in a condition closed bywatertight doors 79, 8d and 81.

Infasmuch as the structures and use of rooms 16, 17, trunk 70 and doors73, 74, 75 correspond to the structures and use of rooms 18, 19, trunk71 and doors 79, 80, 81, only the latter structures and uses will bedescribed in detail although it will be understood that the descriptionapplies as well to the former.

With particular reference to FIG. 7, the doors 79 and 80 have beenpositioned by being lowered through trunk 71 to positions overlyingdoorways 77 and 78, the lower edges of the doors being received in arecess 83. The doors 79, 8l] are provided with peripheral resilientsealing strips 84 which engage the wall surfaces surrounding thedoorways 77, 78, and the doors are forced into tight sealing engagementtherewith by a plurality of hydraulic or other pressure fluid operatedrams 86.

The door 81 is conveniently of the horizontally sliding type carried atthe top by rollers 87 engaging a suitable rail 88, with the lower edge`of the door running in a recess 89 in the basin floor. The door 81 isprovided with a resilient sealing strip 9) which is engageable with thewall surface surrounding doorway 78 when the door is closed. Hydraulicor other fluid pressure rams 92 are mounted on the rail 88 and floorsurface 11a and are Operative to urge the door into tight sealingengagement.

In order to enhance the seal of door 81, means are provided for drawinga vacuum in the space defined between that door and door 80. To this endthere is provided a conduit 95 one end of which communicates with thespace between the doors 8l), 81 and the other of which is connected to asuitable vacuum pump 92 which may be conveniently located in room 19. Avacuum gauge 96 may be provided to give a ready indication of the stateof vacuum in the space between doors 80, 81 and hence provide anindication of the quality of seal thereacross.

By virtue of the just described door arrangements and constructions, theroom 19 may be effectively maintained dry even when the basin 2() isflooded for entry or exit of a ship. When the basin 20 is dry with aship docked therein, the doors 79, 80, 81 may be opened and the room 19used as a shop located on the level of the basin lioor. Similarly, room17 may be rendered water-tight and kept dry during flooding of thebasin, and then may be yopened for use in working on a ship in thebasin.

The rooms 16 and 18 are accessible from the level of wall 65 throughsuitable openings 98, 99. These rooms may be kept continually dry or, asnecessary, may be flooded -to aid in sinking the drydock 10 to a desiredlevel for entry of a ship, and then evacuated of water into the river orinto the ships basin during raising of the ship. When empty of water therooms 16, 18 may be used for additional workshop space.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be appreciated thatthere has been provided by the features of this invention an improveddrydock which satisfies the aforementioned objects and advantages aswell as others apparent from this description.

Obviously many modifications and variation of the present invention arepossible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than 4as specifically described.

What is claimed is: Y

1. A drydock comprising:

side and bottom wall means defining a ship basin open at least at oneend;

a caisson for closing said open en-d;

said side and bottom wall means having defined therein a seat for saidcaisson, said seat being U-shaped in se-ction and presenting first andsecond spaced, vertical surfaces for alternative sealing engagement bysaid caisson for sealing water in and out of said basin, respectively;

hinge means pivotally connecting the lower portion of said caisson tosaid wall means for swinging movement of said caisson between verticaland horizontal positions, said hinge means comprising cooperating pinand gudgeon means permitting limited horizontal and vertical movementsof said caisson when in said vertical position, whereby said caisson maybe moved horizontally between said spaced Vertical surfaces of saidseat, and may be moved vertically out of said seat to permit saidswinging movements.

2. A drydock as defined in claim il and wherein said l caissoncomprises:

a plurality of ioodable compartments; and

means for selectively iooding and emptying said compartments so as toeffect said vertical and swinging movements of said caisson by adjustingthe buoyancy thereof.

3. A drydock as defined in claim 1 and wherein:

said gudgeon means comprise at least one member having defined thereinan inverted T-shaped slot in which movements of a hinge pin areconfined.

4. A drydock as defined in claim 1 and further comprising:

sealing means for effecting a watertight seal between said caisson andsaid Vertical surfaces;

said sealing means comprising resilient means for defining an enclosedzone between said caisson and at least one of said vertical surfaces;and

means for effecting a vacuum in said zone.

5. A drylock as defined in claim 4 and wherein:

said resilient means comprises sealing strip means carried on saidcaisson for engagement with said one of said vertical surfaces; and

said means for effecting a vacuum includes vacuum conduit means havingopenings through said one of said vertical surfaces.

6. A drydock as defined in claim 5 and wherein:

said bottom wall means has defined therein a trough just inboard of saidone of said vertical surfaces; and

sump and pump means for collecting and expelling from said drydock waterwhich finds its way into said trough.

7. A drydock as defined in claim 1 and wherein:

said side wall means comprises at least one wall defining therein atleast one `room having substantially the same lioor level as the uppersurface of said bottom wall means;

said wall structure having a first doorway defined therein for passageof personnel between said room and said basin when the latter is free ofwater; and

first watertight door means operative to close said doorway whereby saidbasin can Ibe flooded without ooding said room.

8. A drydock as defined in claim 7 and wherein:

said one wall structure comprises a vertical trunk leading from the topof said structure into said room;

said trunk having defined therein a second doorway aligned with saidfirst doorway;

second and third watertight `door means for closing said second doorway;

said second and third door means being adapted to define an enclosedspace therebetween; and

means for drawing a vacuum between said second and third door means.

9. A drydock as defined in claim 7 and wherein:

said drydock is a fioating drydock;

said wall structure defines at least a second room at a level above saidone room;

said second room being accessible from the top of said wall structure;and

said second room being fioodable to assist in sinking said drydock to adesired depth.

i0. A drydock comprising:

side and bottom wall means deiining a floodable ship basin;

said side wall means comprising at least one wall structure definingtherein at least one room having substantially the same fioor level asthe upper surface of said bottom wall means;

said wall structure having at least a first `doorway deiined therein forpassage of personnel between said room and said basin when the latter isfree of water;

first watertight door means operative to close said doorway whereby saidbasin can be iiooded without ooding said room;

said one wall structure comprising a vertical trunk leading from the topof said structure into said room;

said trunk having defined therein a second doorway aligned with said rstdoorway;

second and third watertight door means for closing said second doorway;

said second and third door means being adapted to define an enclosedspace therebetween; and

means for drawing a vacuum between said second and third door means.

11. A drydock as defined in claim 10 and wherein:

said drydock is a floating drydock;

said wall structure defines at least a second room at a level above saidone room;

said second room being accessible from the top of said wall structure;and

said second room being oodable to assist in sinking said drydock to adesired depth.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 570,489 11/1896 Marsden 114-453,133,518 5/1964 Burnett 114-47 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

ANDREW H. FARRELL, Examiner.

1. A DRYDOCK COMPRISING: SIDE AND BOTTOM WALL MEANS DEFINING A SHIPBASIN OPEN AT LEAST AT ONE END; A CAISSON FOR CLOSING SAID OPEN END;SAID SIDE AND BOTTOM WALL MEANS HAVING DEFINED THEREIN A SEAT FOR SAIDCAISSON, SAID SEAT BEING U-SHAPED IN SECTION AND PRESENTING FIRST ANDSECOND SPACED, VERTICAL SURFACES FOR ALTERNATIVE SEALING ENGAGEMENT BYSAID CAISSON FOR SEALING WATER IN AND OUT OF SAID BASIN, RESPECTIVELY;HINGE MEANS PIVOTALLY CONNECTING THE LOWER PORTION OF SAID CAISSON TOSAID WALL MEANS FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT OF SAID CAISSON BETWEEN VERTICALAND HORIZONTAL POSITIONS, SAID HINGE MEANS COMPRISING COOPERATING PINAND GUDGEON MEANS PERMITTING LIMITED HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL MOVEMENTSOF SAID CAISSON WHEN IN SAID VERTICAL POSITION, WHEREBY SAID CAISSON MAYBE MOVED HORIZONTALLY BETWEEN SAID SPACED VERTICAL SURFACES OF SAIDSEAT, AND MAY BE MOVED VERTICALLY OUT OF SAID SEAT TO PERMIT SAIDSWINGING MOVEMENTS.